Scuderia Ferrari și-a revendicat prima victorie pe acest an, datorită lui Fernando Alonso, pe aceeași pistă pe care, acum 60 de ani, José Froilan Gonzalez înregistra prima victorie pentru echipa sa. Victoria de astăzi este cea cu numărul 216 din 821 de curse la care a participat Ferrari, din care 16 au venit la Marele Premiu din Marea Britanie. Aceasta este cea de-a doua victorie a lui Fernando la Silverstone și a 27-a victorie din cele 168 de curse, poziționându-l la același nivel cu Jackie Stewart, pe locul cinci în lista câștigătorilor. Rezultatele de astăzi reprezintă faptul că un pilot Ferrari a fost pe lista câștigătorilor în fiecare an, pe perioada ultimelor 18 campionate.
Fernando Alonso: “Este o surpriză frumoasă! Echipa a făcut o treabă extraordinară și dedic această victorie tuturor celor de la Maranello și de pe pistă, a căror muncă ne-a permis mie și lui Felipe să conducem o mașină atât de bună. Este o victorie specială deoarece vine pe o pistă legendară așa cum este cea de la Silverstone, în fața unui public care este atât de entuziasmat de mașini. De asemenea, caracteristicile pistei de curse nu au fost cu adevărat potrivite pentru mașina noastră, dar, în mod clar, îmbunătățirile pe care le-am adus ne-au ajutat foarte mult.”
Double win for the FERRARI 458 AF CORSE TEAM at Imola
Thanks to Vilander-Melo victory and second place going to Fisichella-Bruni
IMOLA, July 3rd
There was a double victory for AF Corse team at the “Six Hours of Imola”, the result of which counts towards the Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo finished the endurance race in first place in the GTE Pro class, while second place went to Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni. Both pairs race with Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 in the championships.
Valencia, 26 June
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro took its third podium finish of the season at the Valencia street circuit, as Fernando Alonso finished second. Having started from fourth on the grid, the Spaniard made up a place at the start and then overtook and stayed ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber, whose team-mate Sebastian Vettel won the race. In the other Ferrari, Felipe Massa came home in fifth.
Fisichella, Bruni and Vilander come second in race of the year. They finish on the prestigious podium following 24 hours of Le Mans race.
June 13, 2011
Le Mans, June 12th — Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander finished the GTE Pro category of the 24 Hour of Le Mans race in second place in their Ferrari F458 GTE Pro.
They failed to make the fastest lap for pole position, but from the very beginning of the endurance race Bruni took the lead. On lap 15 an Audi was involved in a serious accident and Bruni lost the lead following the introduction of the safety car.
The AF Corse drivers then started a remarkable comeback to regain the lead between the 17th and 22nd hours of the race. The Ferrari F458 then suffered a minor technical problem meaning they had to settle for 2nd place. The result is still very prestigious because the 24 Hours of Le Mans is easily the most important endurance race in the world.
GP Monaco
May 30, 2011
At the end of a truly hectic race, Fernando Alonso delivered Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro its second podium of the season, after he finished second in the sixth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Winner of an unpredictable Monaco Grand Prix was Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull, with Jenson Button third for McLaren behind the Spaniard in his 150? Italia. Felipe Massa was less fortunate in the other Ferrari, knocked out of the race by a move from Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.
The Formula 1 Circus is back in action in a fortnight at the Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in Montreal.
Fernando Alonso: “This is my best result of the year and I think it is very important, especially for the team. A podium was needed, we needed to be fighting to the end for the win. Sure, this is not a typical circuit and we should not draw conclusions from a race that always produces its own story. We must close down the distance that separates us from the best: in Canada, we will have some updates on the car and we hope they will prove useful. I got a good start: if there had been a bit more room, maybe I could have done the same as in Spain. Then I tried to look after the tyres, before attacking Vettel at the very end, but then came the red flag and that meant it was over, because on new tyres, he was impossible to beat. Unfortunately, these sort of things can always happen here and they are part of the character of this Grand Prix. We must be pleased with this result and look to Montreal and Valencia, two races where we went well last year, with confidence. The gap in the championship is very big, but there is still a long way to go.”
Turkish GP
May 11, 2011
First podium of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, thanks to Fernando Alonso finishing third, ten seconds behind the winner. Unfortunately, today also saw the team’s first non-scoring finish with Felipe Massa coming home just outside the points in eleventh place at the end of a race that was plagued by various problems. The drivers’ positions in the championship remain unchanged – with Fernando in fifth and Felipe in sixth – the same goes for Scuderia’s third place in the corresponding Constructors championship.
Stefano Domenicali: “It’s been a very long time since we last saw one of our drivers on the podium and today, finally, we were able to. Fernando drove a very nice race, to crown a great weekend on his part: he did not put a foot wrong and was aggressive when he needed to be and prudent when he had to manage the situation. I am very sorry for Felipe, who had every possibility of also getting a good result. We had already seen in the three previous races that the 150? Italia seemed to be the more beautiful sister of the one seen on Saturday afternoon in qualifying, but for one reason or another, in the first three Grands Prix, we never managed to make the most of all its potential. Today we were competitive for long periods and if Fernando had not been stuck behind Rosberg for a few laps after the start, he could have put Vettel under even more pressure. We must definitely not get carried away with this third place: the road is still very long and there is still a very long way to go to where we want to be. At least we have shown that we have started off down the right road.”
Fernando Alonso: “I am pleased with this result, which is down to three weeks of hard work from the entire team at Maranello and at the track this weekend. We had not started this Grand Prix on the right foot, after having quite a few problems on Friday, but then we moved forward and today it was great to be back fighting for the top places. We had come so close to the podium already in Malaysia and in China and today we managed to jump onto it, but this is only a first step: we must continue in this direction. Given the shape we were in at the start of this season, this is a great finish. The next three or four races will be crucial. At 99% I could not have fought with Vettel, but the remaining 1% went when I was stuck behind Rosberg for too long: maybe I could have put him in difficulty, forcing him to push even more. In the end, Webber passed me because he had the benefit of a new set of tyres, while I had none left. I know it seems strange having to stop eleven laps from the finish, but it was getting hard to keep the car on track and there was a risk of ruining everything. There is more overtaking, but I think that has more to do with the different behaviour of the tyres rather than the moveable rear wing. It’s true that the gap in the classification is very wide, but there are still so many points up for grabs: there is certainly no need to give up.”
Chinese GP
April 18, 2011
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso finished sixth and seventh respectively in the Chinese Grand Prix. While motor sport is never really predictable, to some extent this less than satisfactory result for Scuderia Ferrari could have been suggested prior to the start. The places ahead of our Brazilian driver were filled by the two Red Bulls, the two McLarens and, one Mercedes, a team that had shown signs of a big step forward right from free practice earlier in the weekend.
Tyres again played a vital role with the winner pitting three times, although Fernando did not feel the fact he was on a two stop would have made much difference to his final placing. Felipe on the other hand did concede that an additional tyre change might have allowed him to fight off a few more of those who got past him in the final stages, while adding he felt this was his best race drive for quite some time.
The Brazilian was particularly competitive, running as high as second with the run of pit stops, while Fernando seemed to spend the entire race fighting Schumacher: the early battle was the one that did the damage as it came after the Spaniard’s first pit stop and stuck behind the Mercedes, he lost touch with the leaders. Then towards the end of the race, it was Schumacher, now behind the Ferrari, who was trying to pass, but without success.
So that’s the first three races, the first trio of “flyaways” done and dusted. Scuderia Ferrari is third in the championship, but big improvements are needed and that is exactly what the team is working on for the next round in Istanbul, Turkey at the beginning of May.
Malaysian GP
April 11, 2011
Felipe Massa finished the second round of the world championship in fifth position, one place off his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate, Fernando Alonso. However, these bare facts hide the true story of the race that provided plenty of excitement for the fans, even without the much awaited Sepang storm and in which both Ferrari men had genuine opportunities to finish on the podium. In the end, a malfunction of Alonso’s adjustable rear wing meant a straightforward passing move on Hamilton became a titanic and thrilling struggle between two worthy opponents. It ended when the Spaniard clipped the rear of the Englishman’s car, which forced the Ferrari driver to make an extra unscheduled stop for a new nose. Felipe too put in a spirited drive, although a slow pit stop dropped him down the order and in the end, Webber on fresher tyres was able to sneak past the Brazilian who had battled his way back to fourth, but had to settle for that fifth place. Eighteen points mean the Scuderia is still third in the Constructors’ Championship on 36 points, 14 behind McLaren and with half the number of Red Bull Racing the leaders on 72.
For Scuderia Ferrari, the obvious conclusion, now reached in both races so far, is that the pace of the Maranello car is much better in the race than in qualifying. This alone will not be enough to win races and there has been plenty of talk all this weekend from senior personnel in the team, indicating that the technical battle is only just beginning,as everyone in the factory prepares to ramp up efforts in developing the car. Already there are updates making their way to Shanghai where the Chinese Grand Prix takes place in just one week’s time.
TEST PAUL RICARD 2011
14 March 2011
AF Corse’s 2011 season begins on March 11-12 with official testing for the Le Mans Series at the Paul Ricard circuit (Le Castellet, France). The team is the only representative from Italy in the prestigious international championship and lines up three Ferrari cars for the upcoming test. The first is the brand new F458 Italia GT2 driven by Giancarlo Fisichella, Scuderia Ferrari’s third F1 driver, and Gianmaria Bruni, Fia GT2 world champion in 2008. The GT2 version of the 458 will make its track debut competing in the GTE Pro category. The other two cars lined up for the Le Mans Series, both in the Pro AM category, are Ferrari F430s driven by Giuseppe Perazzini-Marco Cioci/Stephane Lemeret and Robert Kauffman/Michael Waltrip-Rui Aguas. However, the AF Corse team that is lined up for this official test is not yet the definitive one for the season. Before the first race, another F458 Italia will join the Ferrari fleet. The second GT2 of the Italian team will be driven by Toni Vilander and Jaime Melo and, as is always the case with GT2s, will compete in the GTE Pro category. But the track-related events do not stop there for the Amato Ferrari team – among other things still to be revealed is the schedule for the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Read More
Abu Dhabi GP - An unexpected damp start
Abu Dhabi, 12 November 2010
Just five days after the Brazilian Grand Prix, the Formula 1 engines were fired up once again at the Yas Marina Circuit, home to the nineteenth and final round of the Formula 1 World Championship. The two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa finished the opening session in sixth (1.44.121) and eleventh (1.45.160) places respectively. Read More
Singapore GP - Alonso's brilliant win, Massa's great recovery
Maranello, 26 September 2010
Fernando Alonso did his championship chances a world of good under the Marina Bay floodlights by leading all sixty one laps of the Singapore Grand Prix to take an incredible win, his fourth of the season, his second at this track. Read More
Unsatisfied Ferrari prepares to react in Monza
Maranello, 30 August 2010
The day after a poor Belgian Grand Prix for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the overriding sentiment in Maranello is that the weekend had been unsatisfactory. Read More
Competiția desfășurată pe Facebook - The Monaco GP Insider - a oferit șansa ca două persoane să descopere ce se află în culisele curselor din cadrul Marelui Premiu ținut în Monte Carlo.
